1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a label having a folded leaflet, coupon, or the like, and, more particularly, to such a label in which the leaflet may be readily peeled away from the label.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art to provide a pressure sensitive adhesive label including a base sheet, a cover sheet, and a folded leaflet, coupon, or the like disposed between the cover sheet and the base sheet. The label is adhered to a product or container, and the leaflet is accessed by peeling away the cover sheet.
U.S. Pat. 4,747,618, issued May 31, 1988, is representative of the prior art, and discloses a rectangular adhesive label having a base sheet, a transparent cover sheet, and a folded leaflet adhered to pressure sensitive adhesive on the underside of the cover sheet. The cover sheet is wider than the folded leaflet, such that a pair of opposite edges of the cover sheet are adhered to the base sheet. The other pair of edges, which are not adhered to the base sheet, are coextensive with the leaflet edges and extend in straight lines between the ends of the adhered edges. The cover sheet is lifted to expose and unfold the leaflet.
Labels of this type are frequently relatively small, and are closely adhered to the surface of a box, bottle, or similar consumer product container. To facilitate the removal of the leaflet, it is important that the non-adhered edges of the cover sheet be easily graspable. However, as described above, the labels of the prior art have been formed with the non-adhered edges of the cover sheet not extending beyond a boundary line defined between the ends of the adhered edges. Thus, the non-adhered edges tend to be held tightly against the package and are not easily grasped. To address this problem, labels of the prior art have formed the cover sheet with weakened tear lines along one or both of the adhered edges. This solution is not entirely satisfactory in that it is still difficult to grasp an edge of the cover sheet, an extra manufacturing step is needed to form the tear lines, and the label may be prematurely and unintentionally torn due to the weakness of the tear line.
Thus, there is an unmet need for a folded leaflet label having an easily grasped and removed cover sheet that is economically manufactured yet which resists tearing and unintended removal.